Playing-card



m C mistakes in confounding the figure with the .To all whom` it may` concern l N` UNTED STATS 4ljATEN'l" JOFFICE.,

' DOUGHERTY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

y `PLAYIlue-CARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters :Patent No. 278,412, datediMay 29, 1883. Application filed pril 23, 1883. (No model.)

Be it `known that l, ANDREW DoUGHER'rY, of the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, State of NewYork, have invented certain Improvements in Playing-Cards, of which the follow- ,ing is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of l playingcards in which marginal emblems or iig- `ures are used to indicate the characters and values ofthe cards and my invention consists in providing the cards with certain indicating l devices, as fully described hereinafter, whereby the margin of each card of a packa miniature` spot or emblemindicating by its form and color the suitto which the card belongs, and

`also a numeral or letter indicating the value of the card, initial letters being employed for court-cards and gures for the others. It thus becomes necessary to examine two devices to ascertain the character of the card; and as such devicesare necessarily of small size the player is often confused, and is led to make emblem. ThisV is partly remedied by the use is sucient for poker playing, in which the of miniature representations of the entire card at the corners, as shown in Fig. 2; and such cards have proved to be of great utility, especially for some games, as euchre, but they are not so serviceable for playing poker, where it is desirable to avoid spreading the hand and to cover the cards to as great an extent as possible. To avoid these objections I provide each card with the miniature representations a in the diagonally-opposite corners, as shown in the drawings, and inaddition I place upon the margin, at each corner, a single letter or nu meral, which indicates by its form the value or quality of the card, and is colored to indicate the color of the emblems upon the card. This single device, therefore, serves to show to the player whether the card belongs to a red or blaclr suit, and also the number ot'` its emblems or its character as a court-card. `This In some instances in poker, and also where i the cards are to be used for playing different games, it is necessary to provide. means for -indicating the suits yet without the use ot' a second device likely tobe mistaken for that above described. For this purpose I place upon each card a line, e, arranged parallel to the edge so far inside of the device above described that ordinarily the line may be covered in poker playing, but can be readily exposed, when necessary, by displaying a wider margin of the card. This line may be continuous to indicate diamonds, broken at two places to ,indicate spades, at one place to indicate hearts, and at three points to indicate clubs, as fully described in the Letters Patent granted to me July V18, 1876. v In connection with the emblem or letter this will not only fully disclose the character of the card, but will further serve as a Vmeans whereby two persons, one familiar bnly with tne English cards and the other with only the Spanish, can play together. The lines may be colored and divided differently. For instance, abreak in .one red line will indicate diamonds; a continuous line, hearts; a continuous black line, clubs, and a broken black line spades. The lines e may be placed outside of the margin of the card or they may form part of' the margin, or they may form the margin-lines of the miniature representations a, as shown in the drawings. In such case it is well to place the said representations a little outside the main margin-line, thereby giving prominence to the lines e. By this combination of the single indicating devices, lines 6,'

and miniature representations, I provide a card adapted for playing various games, with marginal indications of such a character as will enable the face to be almost wholly concealed,

and yet indicating readilyand in a mannernot l IOC cates the suit 5 but this defeats the purpose of my invention, which risto preserve to the ygreatest possible degree the conventional character of the card. Such a card, instead of being available for ordinary use, requires the players to become familiar with a new device. Moreover, in such cards the court-cards require two indicating devices, whereas I indicate both court and spot cards each. with a single character.

I c laiml. A pack of playing-cards in which each cardis provided at the margin with a single colored letter or numeral, indicating by its form the value and by its color the color of the card, substantially as set forth.

2. A playing-card having the conventional v emblems and colors, and having the conven` ytionalface, miniature representations of the face at the corners, and a colored marginal letter or numeral, as set forth.

t -3. Aplaying-card provided with a colored letter or numeral indicating the value and color of the card, and with a line, e, indicating the suit, substantially as set forth.

, 4. A pack of playing-cards in which the cards have miniature representations in the corners, the marginallines whereof' indicate the suits, and with colored letters and numerals indicating the values, substantially as set forth.

5. Playing-cards provided with colored indicating letters or numerals, with miniature representations at the corners set to a slight extent outside the main margins, andwith indicating marginal lines e, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of twosubscribin g witnesses.

A. DOUGHER'IY. Witnesses: 4

H. A. HALL, CHARLES E. FQsTEu. 

